Unsocial hours pay: Do I need to pay more to staff who work unsocial hours?

With around 3.2 million people (more than 1 in 9) of the British workforce working night shifts (according to TUC figures) and even more working unsocial hours, it is important for businesses and employers to understand their responsibilities for unsocial hours pay. In short, there is no legal requirement to pay employees more for unsociable or night shifts, but those hours must still be paid at least at the applicable minimum wage. With a growing demand for instant gratification and global trading, more and more industries are needing to work around the clock to keep up.

Where unsocial or unsociable hours were once largely limited to emergency services, medical staff, and hospitality staff, round the clock work, or at least extended hours, are now expected in finance, postal, retail, tourism, charity, and many more industries. For employers managing these patterns, the key issue is not just whether extra pay is due, but how unsociable hours, night shifts, and sleep-in shifts should be defined and paid in practice.

There was a time when companies remunerated those willing to work undesirable shifts with extra financial incentive, but the truth is that there is no legal requirement for unsociable hour and night shift workers to be paid more than their daytime working counterparts. And as more companies join the all-day work schedule, there has been a decline in the number of workers receiving any benefit for working outside of “business hours”. This guide explains the rules on unsocial hours pay, minimum wage requirements, sleep-in shift rates, and the practical steps businesses can take to stay compliant and avoid pay disputes.

What are considered unsocial hours?

There is no technical definition for unsociable hours. Most businesses define unsocial hours by when work falls outside standard business times, including evenings, weekends, early mornings, and similar anti-social hours, though this is largely based around the demand from the business. For instance, a business that runs its normal hours from 9am – 5pm may view unsociable hours as anything outside of that while a business that runs from 8am – 10pm may only view work after 10pm as unsociable.

Weekend work and early morning shifts are common forms of unsocial working hours, but whether they attract additional pay depends on the employment contract or workplace policy.

What is classified as a night shift?

Generally, a night shift worker is anyone who works at least three hours between 11pm and 6am.

Employers are allowed to make agreements with their employees to set their own night shift hours. If an agreement is in place then it must be done in writing and has to be at least seven hours long and include midnight to 5am.

There are also additional rules for night workers governing how many hours they are allowed to work in a 24 hour period and how much they get paid for “sleep-in” shifts.

What is the rate of pay for unsocial hours?

Currently, the law requires that every employee is paid the minimum wage. Under the UK legal framework, the minimum rate depends on a worker’s age or apprentice status, not on whether they work unsocial hours.

The minimum wage only changes depending on your employee’s age and if they are employed as an apprentice and the rates are set by the government every year on 1 April. Under employment law, the only legal requirement is that employers pay at least the applicable minimum wage, so there is no legal entitlement to unsocial hours payments. Any shift allowance, extra pay, or other additional payments for unsocial hours are not automatic and should be set out in the employment contract or workplace policy.

The minimum wage rates general change in April each year and apply for that tax year:

The minimum wages currently set out are as follows:

	Employees 21 and over	Employees 18 to 20	Employees under 18	Apprentices
Current rates of pay (2026/27)	£12.71	£10.85	£8	£8
Previous rates of pay (2025/26)	£12.21	£10	£7.55	£7.55

 

Employers generally have discretion over pay rates above the legal minimum for employees and other workers, but any legal obligation still requires compliance with National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rules.

There is also a suggestion that employees over 21 should be paid the national living wage rather than the minimum wage. Businesses with employees required to live in London are strongly advised to pay slightly higher wages to reflect the higher living costs in London, although currently they are only legally required to pay the minimum amount.

The current recommendations from The Living Wage Foundation for living wages are £13.45 /hour for those living outside London and £14.80/hour for those living in London.

What is the rate of pay for night shifts and sleep-in shifts?

Night shifts are treated as any other unsociable hours and employees should at least receive the national minimum wage. Where employers do offer additional pay for these shifts, it is usually applied as a percentage enhancement on top of the employee’s standard basic hourly rate. The only time this changes is when employees are doing a sleep-in shift with employees who are expected to be sleeping only being paid for hours that they have reported working during the night.

Sleep-in shifts involve any work where employees are allowed to sleep during their work. This could apply to residential care staff or staff who are on call at night.

Sleep-in shift workers are divided into two categories: workers expected to sleep most of the night (such as staff on call) and workers expected to work most of the night (such as security guards). Which type of worker you are should be clearly shown on your contract. Employees are also required to provide a place for their sleep-in employees to sleep.

Employees who are expected to work most of the night should be paid the minimum wage for their full shift. Employees who are expected to sleep most of the night are only paid for the hours they are actually awake and working. They will need to keep accurate records to show their employers to claim the hours of work done during their sleep-in shifts. Some public sector employers also use structured band-based uplifts for night work and other unsocial hours payments when setting pay rates.

Should Night shift workers be paid more?

The benefits of working during the day seem clear: time with family and friends in normal socialising hours, normal sleep patterns, and even simply seeing sunshine from your office window. There are also proven health benefits to working days instead of nights, as night work can bring health risks and contribute to mental health issues, affecting mental health, well being, and social life, including isolation when people keep missing social occasions, so it seems right that night shift workers be paid more.

Unfortunately, there is no legal requirement for companies to pay night shift workers more, and the only strict pay rule is that hours worked must still meet minimum wage law; however, employers must also follow the legal framework on the night period, including daily rest, rest breaks, and maximum hours for night workers.

Some businesses recognise that in order to run successfully they will need workers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and these businesses will often offer increased pay for people willing to work undesirable hours. But a lot of businesses are doing away with this, especially as demand for jobs increases and more and more people are willing to take on odd working hours.

Remote and flexible working has also resulted in many employees working during unsociable hours because it fits around their own daily schedules more easily. With a rise in flexible working, there is also less need for businesses to offer any other incentives for employees to work late.

A word of advice to employers though: if your business often requires staff to work night-shifts or unsociable hours, it may be in your best interests to offer a higher pay package for those willing to put in the late hours. Your staff will be grateful, morale will likely be higher, and the happier you keep your staff, the more likely your business is to thrive. For compliance, if staff opt out of the 48-hour limit, employers must keep records, and average limits usually count regular overtime but not occasional overtime.